Lake St. Louis police looking for suspect in attempted abduction

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LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO (KPLR) – Police in Lake St. Louis are looking for a man who allegedly approached a teenage girl, trying to get her to get in his pickup truck. They say it happened twice in a period of about a week.

Officers say the first incident occurred a couple of weeks ago. They say the man was driving a grey pickup truck on Landing Place Drive, just off Highway N, when he pulled up and told the girl that it was too cold, and she should let him give her a ride. She refused and went home, never reporting what happened.

Then, a week later, on February 4th, she was in the same area at about the same time, 2:15, when the man pulled up again.

“This time the guy was a little more forceful,” Lake St. Louis Police Chief Michael Force said. “Same type of an introductory line, ‘It’s cold out. Do you want a ride home?’ She said, ‘No thank you, I’m just walking.’ He said, ‘No I really think I should give you a ride.’ When she declined, he said, ‘Just get in the car.’ So a little more forceful that time. That gives us cause for concern.”

Neighbors are worried as well. One woman, who didn’t want to talk on camera, says lots of kids cut through the Sommers Landing subdivision, which backs up to Liberty High School. She says residents are on very high alert.

A spokesperson for the Wentzville School District says communications have been sent out to all parents and staff at Liberty High, and that bus drivers have been shown a composite sketch provided by police as well.

But to this point, the teen who filed the report last Thursday is the only one to report being approached.

“If there are other victims out there we certainly need to know about them also,” Force said. “It’s suspicious in nature now. We want to make sure it doesn’t become anything more.”

The suspect was driving a grey pickup truck. He’s a white male in his late thirties to early forties. Police say he has a thin beard and short dark hair with some flecks of grey.

If you have any information, or know of anyone else he may have approached, you’re asked to contact Lake St. Louis Police at 636-625-8018.